Homesickness is really an illness

I didn't do much for my first semester of college. I was far away from home, at a school I didn't really want to go to and had trouble relating to my peers.

My sleeping patterns became erratic, I quickly turned from a social butterfly to an introvert. It wasn't a good experience. I never knew a college freshman could cry so much.

Seems as if I was suffering from a particularly bad form of homesickness, one that affects 1 in 14 people. These people, much like myself, "(are) not eating or sleeping right, not playing with others. Or they have an intense preoccupation with home, they're not thinking about anything else."

Yup, that pretty much summed up my semester. I say semester because I left at Christmas and moved back home to go to a community college before I transferred to a state university.

So could we have predicted that my homesickness would have reached such a horrible level? According to the article, yes, we could have.

I had troubles, at times, being away from home. Pretty much, my entire life, I would become very upset when my Mom would have to go out of town. When it came time to choose a college, my parents pretty much gave me little choice.

Both of those would be red flags for some experts.

So, what would you do (or have you done) for a child that experiences extreme homesickness? Personally, as someone who had issues with it her entire life, letting the child have some say so in the proceedings is important. Let her help choose the summer camp. Maybe see if she can go to the same one as a trusted friend or family member.

If it is college you're dealing with, I suggest really discussing what your child wants with her. While you may not think she'll do well at a larger school, forcing her to go a school that doesn't suit her needs will not make the transition any easier.

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ReaderComments (Page 1 of 1)

When I wa sint he 4th grade, my parents involved me in a foreign exhcange program. I was excited but didn't knwo what I was getting into. We had a young french girl come stay with us for three weeks and then it was my time. We had recently moved from Tennessee, where all my extended family was, to Florida. I was already having adjustment and homesickness issues.

To ready me for being away from home, my parents sent me back to Tennessee to stay with my grandparents for the week of my Spring Break. I had never been away from home, yes, but I was visiting the grandparents who used to live down the street from me. My parents did the best they could to prepare me for the trip far away from home, but it didn't work.

I was physically ill for the majority of the three weeks I spent in France. I ended up in a physical brawl with my exchange student and wanted nothing more than to be back home.

I experienced some pretty intense homesickness when I went away to college as well. I also have continued to want to be home whenever something serious happens in my life. The comfort and acceptance of my parents is always calling to me. They are my safety bubble.

I am now recognizing that my home I make with my daughter and my husband needs to be that security blanket. I never was very adventurous in that way!